Digital Realty Expands Global AI Innovation Lab Network

Digital Realty is expanding its Innovation Lab network into Singapore, Japan and London, providing new environments for enterprises to test AI and hybrid cloud infrastructure before full-scale rollout.

The move marks the first extension of the Digital Realty Innovation Lab programme beyond the US, following the launch of its Northern Virginia facility in September 2025. The new sites in Asia Pacific and Europe are all expected to be operational this year.

Each location will offer customers and partners access to real-world testing environments within operational data centres. Organisations can bring their own workloads or use pre-configured infrastructure to validate performance, power and connectivity requirements prior to production deployment.

As AI adoption accelerates, infrastructure readiness has emerged as a barrier for enterprises seeking to move from pilot projects to scaled environments. Digital Realty is positioning its labs as a way to reduce deployment risk.

Regional hubs for AI validation

In Singapore, the Innovation Lab will act as a digital hub linking local enterprises, research institutions and global technology providers. The city state’s digital economy accounts for 18.6% of GDP, with AI adoption driving continued growth.

Japan’s lab will be located at Digital Realty’s NRT12 data centre in Greater Tokyo. The facility will include 20 racks equipped with direct liquid cooling, designed to support high-power-density AI and high-performance computing workloads.

In the UK, the London lab will provide a dedicated space for customers to validate AI and hybrid cloud architectures before implementation across live production environments.

Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific at Digital Realty, says: “Sustaining rapidly expanding digital economies requires innovation ecosystems built on infrastructure that is not only AI-ready, but also efficient, resilient and trusted.

“Since launching the Digital Realty Innovation Lab (DRIL) in the US, we've seen strong demand from customers and partners across Asia Pacific seeking dedicated environments to validate AI and hybrid cloud architectures before deploying at scale. 

“Bringing this capability to Singapore and Japan reflects the digital maturity of these markets and their critical role in shaping the region's long-term digital competitiveness.

By creating spaces where enterprises can test, optimise and de-risk their AI infrastructure, we're accelerating responsible deployment and strengthening Asia Pacific's position as a hub for trusted digital innovation.”

Séamus Dunne, Managing Director, UK & Ireland at Digital Realty, adds: “European AI adoption is expected to grow rapidly, and London sits at the centre of that growth. 

“Launching the Digital Realty Innovation Lab in London gives enterprises and partners a real-world environment to validate AI and hybrid cloud architectures before rolling them out across live environments. It’s a critical step in helping organisations deploy next-generation infrastructure faster, and with greater confidence.”

High density testing environments

The Innovation Labs are designed to support high-density AI deployments, with capacity for colocation configurations of up to 150kW per cabinet. 

Enterprises will be able to evaluate performance trade-offs related to power density, cooling strategies and efficiency before committing to long-term infrastructure investments. This includes assessing GPU resource requirements and AI-specific rack designs.

Hybrid cloud validation is also a core component. Customers can connect directly to cloud and network providers through ServiceFabric, Digital Realty’s interconnection and orchestration platform, refining hybrid architectures across on-premises and cloud environments.

The labs will also support orchestration of AI workloads across Digital Realty’s Private AI Exchange, enabling secure and low-latency integration between distributed data centre locations and cloud destinations. 

Latency testing across multiple sites forms part of the validation process, allowing enterprises to assess application performance across regions.

Supporting ecosystem partners

The global Innovation Lab network supports an ecosystem that includes AMD, Cisco and Lenovo. By offering shared testing facilities within operational data centres, Digital Realty is providing a neutral platform for vendors and enterprises to collaborate on AI-ready architectures.

Using its Pervasive Datacenter Architecture methodology, the company aims to standardise how customers design and deploy distributed infrastructure. The labs are intended to reduce complexity during the transition from proof of concept to production.

With new facilities in Singapore, Tokyo and London, Digital Realty is extending controlled testing environments into markets where AI demand and cloud adoption continue to expand, giving enterprises access to infrastructure validation within live data centre settings.